Tag: Raiders news

Bit by bit, the Raiders roster and the depth chart is shaking out as camp goes along. Unlike most camps, there was nothing in the offseason that could sway the coaches one way or the other as to who would take the lead on any of their open competitions. Those battles have all been taking place since they began training camp on July 28.

We are approaching a month since that first day, and a couple of weeks since they began what could be considered something resembling actual training camp practices.

Two weeks is not enough time to properly gauge the talent or readiness of the team’s new players. Not having a preseason only exacerbates the issue.

Probably the most up-for-grabs position on the team is cornerback where there are a lot of guys vying for a spot on the roster and for playing time. And according to general manager Mike Mayock, it could be a while before any decisions are made.

“As far as the corners, the thing I like about it most is they’re competing,” Mayock said Tuesday over Zoom conference call. “When I talked about evaluating tape, there’s still a couple corners that I don’t know who they are yet. That’s really the challenge for training camp. We have no preseason games so we can’t see them on special teams live, so I think the challenge, at least for me personally, is to try and figure out some of these young corners in the next ten days.”

Ten days is what the team has until they need to make a decision on who will be on their 53-man roster on September 5. A tough decision is upcoming at the cornerback spot.

As of now, the group consists of Trayvon Mullen, Lamarcus Joyner, Prince Amukamara, Damon Arnette, Nevin Lawson, Amik Robertson, Keisean Nixon, Isaiah Johnson, Madre Harper, Dylan Mabin, with Nick Nelson on the PUP list.

We can assume Mullen, Joyner, and Arnette are locks. Amukamara has been in a battle with Arnette for the starting corner job, so he seems likely. Probably Amik Robertson as a fourth-round rookie gets on. That’s five already. After that, who really knows.

The frontrunners for the final one or two spots figure to be Lawson, Nixon, and Johnson. Last season these three battled for roster spots as well. Johnson suffered and injury so Lawson and Nixon were in. But without the injury, who do they choose? I know I have my predictions, but I’m not solid on them. I’m also not the one making the decisions. Besides, with still a lot of practices left, things could change.

One interesting thing right now is Trayvon Mullen is hurt. Mayock says the team was initially worried about his injury, but that as it turns out Mullen will be “back sooner rather than later.” He is the one sure starters on the team which means in his absence some of the rest of these guys jockeying for position should get more reps with the ones. They certainly need it.

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Every year, the rookies get a lot of attention. That goes especially for teams that are rebuilding. Such is the case with the Raiders at a few different positions.

Getting the most press in this rookie class have been top pick Henry Ruggs III, fellow first-round pick Damon Arnette, and third-round pick WR Bryan Edwards.

Sometimes it can feel like every one of these players is on the fast track to stardom. The media latches onto every nugget and feeds it to a fan base hungry to hear good things. But Mike Mayock says let’s calm down a little bit on all the hype.

`They’ve gotten a lot of pretty good press. a lot of people are patting them on the butt,” Mayock said of the rookie class over a zoom conference call Tuesday. “You know what? It’s not time to anoint anybody yet. This is what we talked about last year with Josh Jacobs and everybody else. You got to earn it in this league. We don’t have any preseason games to do it, which exaggerates the evaluation process for us. The snapshot of the rookies has been good. But that doesn’t mean anything. They got to compete on special teams, they got get off press coverage in a real game. There’s an awful long way to go before we anoint anybody in this rookie class.”

Perhaps no player in this class has gotten more hype than Bryan Edwards. The No. 81 pick has been filling in for the injured Tyrell Williams in camp and Edwards has looked up to the task.

I have been suitably impressed by Edwards as well. However, I have to remind myself, as we probably all should, that training camp can sometimes be fool’s gold. Flashes in the pan like Juron Criner and Denarius Moore come to mind as camp standouts who never lived up to that hype as NFL players.

As for Ruggs, he has shown he has the separation speed, but the big deep, contested catches haven’t shown up yet. There was even a clip the Raiders put out on twitter in which Arnette stayed with him stride-for-stride and picked off the pass.

Just like the others, we can’t take that Arnette interception as proof he’s ready to be the starter over veteran Prince Amukamara.

As Mayock mentioned, there’s no preseason. That fact could have many teams easing their rookies into their starting lineups, opting for the proven vets until they can see their rookies prove it in a game-time situation.

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If you have followed this site or Twitter at all over the last few weeks, you know that there has been a lot of praise for rookie receiver Bryan Edwards. The steady drumbeat of hype started in the offseason when he was working out privately with teammates and has continued to practice at training camp.

Now that Tyrell Williams is injured and is expected to miss some time with a torn labrum, the expectation is that Edwards will “start” at the “X” receiver spot for the remainder of camp and potentially into the season.

One of the reasons why so many people are fans of Edwards is his analytical profile coming out of college. While he never posted a 1,000-yard season at the collegiate level, he was super productive at an early age in the SEC. As a 17-year old freshman at South Carolina, Edwards started and nearly totaled 600 yards. He would improve every season for the Gamecocks and ended his career as one of the most productive receivers in SEC history.

But despite the strong analytical profile and positive news coming out of Raiders’ camp, should we pump the brakes some on a potential breakout season for Edwards? In a recent article by Mike Renner of Pro Football Focus, he laid out the case why Edwards might not be as productive of a receiver this year as many are hoping. Take a look at why PFF isn’t as optimistic about Edwards putting up big numbers as a rookie:

“The X role that he’d be taking over from Tyrell Williams is simply not one that Derek Carr has thrown to over the course of his career. Last season, he targeted split wide receivers 160 times all season, 25th among all quarterbacks in the NFL. Heck, Williams himself saw only 4.3 targets per game when healthy last season.

While you could chalk up some of that as a byproduct of the talent around him, Carr targeted outside receivers only 204 times (14th) in his final year with Amari Cooper in his receiving corps. That’s far from a heavy share to go around for Edwards. With Darren Waller at tight end, Hunter Renfrow in the slot and first-rounder Henry Ruggs III all vying for significant target share, there simply may not be a ton left for Edwards in Las Vegas.”

Renner does make a strong point about the role in which Edwards will be stepping into as a Raider. Jon Gruden has traditionally built is offense inside out and that’s exactly how the Raiders plan on winning games this season.

The goal is to run the ball as much as possible and utilize Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow in the middle of the field in the passing game. To Gruden’s credit, he has built an offense around Derek Carr that best suits his playing style.

If Edwards does play a significant amount of snaps or even starts, it’s fair to be pessimistic about the type of numbers he would post in the offense. He’s not likely to be a high-volume receiver in this version of the Raiders’ offense.

However, that doesn’t mean he can’t be a significant asset to the offense. Edwards’ best trait is his ability to win with size and physicality. The Raiders have to be better on third down and in the red zone this season and that is where a possession receiver like Edwards could make a major impact.

Look for Edwards to be a big part of the Raiders’ offense this season in some form or fashion. However, his impact might not necessarily be reflected in a strong statistical season as the outside receivers in this offense don’t see a ton of opportunities. But make no mistake about it, the hype surrounding Edwards is real and he will be a major part of the team’s future on offense.

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Arguably the best decision the Raiders made this offseason was finally investing in their linebacker unit. For most of the decade, the linebacker position has been the team’s Achilles’ heel on defense as they often relied on older, slower players to fill that need.

After missing on veterans such as Tahir Whitehead and Vontaze Burfict over the last two seasons, the team finally decided to spend top-dollar in free agency at the position. During free agency, the Raiders signed the top linebacker on the market in Cory Littleton, formerly of the Los Angeles Rams.

Just how good is Littleton? In a recent article by Ben Linsey of Pro Football Focus, he named the top-25 linebacker entering the upcoming season. Littleton appeared on the list, finishing at No. 8 in the rankings. Take a look at what Linsey had to say about the Pro Bowl linebacker:

“Over the past two seasons, Littleton has a PFF coverage grade of 90.6 and has missed just nine of his 254 tackling opportunities. That’s why the Raiders signed him this offseason. Over that same two-year stretch, the 37.9 coverage grade for Raiders’ linebackers collectively came out ahead of only the Arizona Cardinals, Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Giants. Their 12% missed tackle rate as a unit also came in as a bottom-10 mark across all defenses. Littleton should help correct both those areas.”

PFF did mention Littleton’s struggles as a run defender at times, but that isn’t why the Raiders targeted him in free agency. Littleton is among the league’s best defenders in pass coverage and that has been a major weakness for the Raiders for several seasons.

If Littleton can play even close to the level that we’ve grown accustomed to over the last two seasons, the Raiders will have one of the league’s best linebackers on their roster. Look for Littleton to have a major impact on Paul Guenther’s defense right away.

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One of the biggest surprises in the NFL last season was the emergence of tight end Darren Waller. After missing multiple seasons due to suspensions, Waller quickly became one of the league’s best tight ends, leading the Raiders in receptions and receiving yards.

However, Waller wasn’t the only Raiders’ tight end who impressed last season. 2019 fourth-round pick Foster Moreau developed into an excellent complement to Waller, finishing with the second-most touchdowns (6) on the team.

Moreau’s rookie season came to a close when he injured his leg, causing him the final three games of the season. But he is now 100 percent healthy and is line for even more work this season. Here is what Moreau said about what he learned from his rookie season:

“I think in my rookie year, I developed a really good routine. A really good routine every day that I kind of learned to follow and do a great job of understanding where I needed to allocate my time during the week in order to be successful on Sunday. I kind of carried that over and added some things into it. You learn to watch film better. You learn how to recover efficiently, you’re not just doing ice and stem just for the kicks of it, just because someone told you to go recover. You know exactly what you want to do during the week and I think that’s invaluable as a player, knowing where to put your time.”

With the Raiders wanting to play a lot of “power” football this season, look for the team to use multiple two and three-tight end sets. And given the depth the team has at that position, it only makes sense.

Moreau is a fantastic athlete who has shown the ability to be an effective blocker and a dynamic receiver. Entering Year 2, look for him to become an even bigger weapon in the Raiders’ offense this season.

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Heading into the 2020 NFL Draft, the Raiders’ offense was essentially set. The team returned all five starters across the offensive line and emerging stars such as Josh Jacobs and Darren Waller made this offense go last season.

However, the one spot on the unit that needed upgrading was at receiver. While Tyrell Williams and Hunter Renfrow both had their moments last year, the group needed to add an elite playmaker to keep defenses on their heels. That is why the Raiders used the No. 12 pick on Henry Ruggs III from Alabama and made him the first receiver selected in the draft.

Entering the 2020 season, expectations are high for Ruggs. He is expected to start at one of the outside receiver spots with Williams and should see a healthy amount of targets.

In a recent article by Lance Zierlien of NFL.com, he named the league’s most pivotal rookies for each team entering the season. Not surprisingly, Ruggs’ name showed up for the Raiders. Take a look at what Zierlein had to say about the former Alabama star entering the year:

“One look at the season stats from 2019 shows that Derek Carr relied heavily on slot targets, tight ends and running backs in the passing game. Ruggs, with his next-level explosiveness and speed, can take the Raiders’ offense to the next level if they find ways to redistribute the football.”

Ruggs likely won’t lead the Raiders in targets or receptions this season as that’s not how they plan on using him. Instead, look for players like Waller and Renfrow to both finish the season with more catches.

What the Raiders are hoping for this season from Ruggs is a handful of explosive plays that can flip the field or change momentum. Consider this; during the 2019 season, the Raiders had just 19 completions of 30 or more yards last season. Of those 19 plays, only 12 came from the wide receiver group.

The Raiders are hoping that Ruggs can create 10-12 of those types of plays by himself this season, giving the team a far more explosive offense. If he can prove to be that type of receiver, look for the Raiders’ offense to improve significantly this year.

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You could put together quite the All-Star squad using just Raiders’ greats. And if you didn’t know any better, you might think that’s what happened at Monday’s walk-thru in Henderson.

Each of the players donned jerseys (or shirts rather) with the names and numbers of a Raider’s greats at their respective position. Take a look at some of the jerseys the players wore on Monday via the Las Vegas Raiders’ Twitter account:

Paying respect to some of the greats this morning. pic.twitter.com/Fh4TCee71i

— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) August 24, 2020

Here are some notable names and numbers from Monday’s walkthrough:

WR Hunter Renfrow — 25, Fred Biletnikoff
WR Henry Ruggs — 21, Cliff Branch
G Richie Incognito — 63, Gene Upshaw
T Kolton Miller — 78, Art Shell
QB Derek Carr — 12, Ken Stabler
C Rodney Hudson — 00, Jim Otto

Monday’s walk-thru was scheduled to be a full practice, but it was changed to a walk-thru at the last minute. It was the second day in a row the Raiders have canceled practice. On Sunday, they had a workout day instead.

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Believe it or not, there aren’t many starting jobs that are available for the Raiders heading into the season. There is some shuffling that could happen at receiver, but for the most part, the offense is set.

On the other side of the ball, the Raiders plan on rotating a ton of different players on the field, but the starters are mostly intact there, as well. However, there is one job that could be up for grabs and that is at cornerback.

Heading into camp, it was assumed that veteran Prince Amukamara would be the team’s starting cornerback with Travyon Mullen. But after a strong start to training camp, first-round pick Damon Arnette appears to be ready to challenge Amukamara for that job.

In a recent article by Ben Linsey of Pro Football Focus, the battle between Amukamara and Arnette was the team’s biggest starting spot up in the air. Here is a snippet of what Linsey had to say about the fight for the No. 2 cornerback job for the Raiders:

“It doesn’t appear as if (Damon) Arnette is simply going to hand (Prince) Amukamara that job opposite Mullen — a promising development for the Raiders after many thought they overdrafted Arnette midway through the first round. There is even a feeling starting to build now that it’s Arnette’s job to lose. Arnette earned 70.0-plus PFF coverage grades in each of the past three seasons with Ohio State.”

Ideally, the Raiders would love for Arnette to win that job, proving they made the right decision with the No. 19 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. But Amukamara’s experience and consistency might be the better option to start the season.

But the big takeaway here should be how impressive Arnette has been during camp. He will surely play this season and the Raiders have to be thrilled with him in camp so far. Look for this battle opposite of Mullen to continue in camp and throughout the regular season for the Raiders.

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The Raiders held practice at Allegiant Stadium for the first time ever on Saturday. While the practice had a scrimmage-like feel, it was a high-intensity practice that featured pumped in crowd noise and several competitive drills.

To give fans a better idea of what the practice looked like, the team posted a video on Twitter and YouTube of defensive end Clelin Ferrell going through practice. Ferrell was mic’d up during the duration of practice and it produced several interesting sound bites:

 

While the Raiders are still a few weeks away from their first game of the season against the Carolina Panthers, the team is starting to ramp up their practices. The Raiders are off on Monday once again but will return to the field in the upcoming days.

As for Ferrell, he remains a big piece to the team’s defense heading into the season. Look for the former Clemson star to get snaps at both defensive end and defensive tackle this season, depending on the matchup. The Raiders are hoping that Ferrell can make a big leap in Year 2 after a so-so rookie season. Ferrell finished his rookie season with 4.5 sacks in 15 starts.

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